Cloud-based Services
Ah ... the might cloud. Until recently, when you downloaded a song, it was stuck inside
your iPod, iPad, smart phone or other device. It was sort of handy, but moving tunes from
here to there was, at best, a pain in the hind quarter. Not so anymore. The cloud is chang-
ing all that.
Industry analyst Aapo Markkanen was noted as saying “The number of subscribers to
mobile music streaming services is expected to approach 5.9 million by the end of this
year (2011),” ABI Research believes that number will exceed 161 million subscribers in
2016, meaning a compound annual growth rate of nearly 95%. Sometime in 2012 the
Asia-Pacific area will become the largest regional market for mobile music streaming.”
That, dear reader, is nothing to sneeze at.
ABI which focuses on the mobile perspective, also said, “Cloud computing is revolu-
tionizing the digital music industry by shifting the consumer focus from ownership of
songs to purchasing access to them in the form of on-demand streaming services. At the
same time, the cloud is also being used to store owned tracks and albums and develop
services that help listeners to discover a whole new range of music. Mobile handsets are a
key driver of this change, due to their inherent portability and uniquely high penetration
rate among consumers.” More so, cloud-focused folks tend to buy more music and that’s
a good thing for the indie artist, whether solo or with a band. And, retail prices are ex-
pected to come down. They will likely show a gradual decline as these services reach
mass markets. Former Practice director at ABI, Neil Strother, noted, “Forecasts of declin-
ing prices are based on the assumption that the rights-holders will lower their royalty de-